(This may end up as a duplicate - I typed this all out then the power went out from the lighting -- geez! Anyhow, this is long!)
We took our 4th child to a chiropractor when he was a few months old for reflux. One poster mentioned it already -- but the "crack and pull" method is not what you are looking for. There is another method - I forget the name. I did an interview for an article that was in Dallas Child a while back on Chiropractors - I'm going to cut and paste it here, and then after it I'm going to post the interview (b/c very, very, little was printed in the short article):
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NATURAL PARENTING: CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR KIDS (February 2006)
Chiropractic care for kids and babies -- even newborns -- is the newest health staple for savvy, natural-minded families. Parents seek chiropractic care for a more holistic approach to their kids' health, including relieving colic, breathing problems, nursing difficulties, sleep disturbances, allergies and more.
How does it work? According to the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA), chiropractors check children's spines for misalignments that impair nervous system function, and, therefore, overall body function. ICPA-certified chiropractors have taken post-graduate classes on specific techniques for pregnant mothers, infants and children. Their techniques include advice on nutrition, exercise and physical therapy, plus specialized techniques such as the Webster technique for repositioning breech babies.
While most local chiropractors working a traditional office setting, some offer a more personal experience.
S. M. of Garland was completely won over by chiropractic's success at resolving her baby's gastric reflux. "When we first went, I was very hesitant," she says. After eight weeks of treatment, however, her 5-month-old son was down from spitting up about two to three cups of fluid a day to one to two tablespoons per day.
RESOURCES:
* International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) www.icpa4kids.com
* Dr. Jayne Digby-New, ICPA-member chiropractor, 972/697-1608
* Dr. Lance Wright, 972/720-1777 www.questchiropractic.com
* Dr. Jim Heptig, 972/267-5998, www.willowbendchiropractic.com
* Dennis Family Chiropractic, 972/801-9992
--Lisa Poisso
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(Original Interview)
How old was your little one (with reflux) when you took him to the chiropractor?
Giovanni was about 5 months old when we took him to see Dr. Joe.
Had he been diagnosed by a physician? Treated?
Gino was diagnosed w/ reflux by his pediatrician around the time he was 2 or 3 months old. Initially he was given a prescription for Zantac 25, but it upset his stomach so much and he was constantly in pain and fussy. Then he was given prevacid, in powder form and in the capsule form (which we had to break apart and place in his baby cereal). The prevacid did not work for him either. We were given other medicating options, but none of them sat well with us, we were hesitant to try the zantac and prevacid in the first place, but desperate for our baby to have some relief.
Had he been seen by a chiro before, or did you go specifically for the reflux?
What made you consider chiropractic care for reflux?
When my 3rd child was born, he had reflux, and friends mentioned to me that a chiropractor could treat him, but I didn't believe them, so he was on Zantac until he was almost a year and 1/2 old. Then when Gino came along and he didn't tolerate the medication, another friend pushed me toward going to the chiropractor. I really thought it was crazy, it seemed unreasonable to me that a chiropractor could treat my son. No one in my family had ever gone to a chiropractor, but like most people we assumed a chiropractor only treated back pain.
Finally we were desperate, our baby was spitting up so much, he spit up almost 3/4 of what he ingested at each feeding, and he was drinking bottles every 2 hours because he was comfort feeding. His poor little throat hurt constantly, so he always wanted to drink to soothe it. He was always cranky and irritable because he didnt' feel well. He cried almost all day. A friend pushed me toward seeing a chiropractor, in fact, she called him for me and told me they were having a special with a free consultation! So I figured I had nothing to lose!
How did you hear about Dr. Joe?
I heard about Dr. Joe from a friend, it was Valentines Day 2005 and he was running a special with a free consultation, so I made an appointment for that day!
What was your experience?
When we first went, I was very hesitant, I walked in with an attitude that there was no way that a chiropractor could treat reflux, in fact, I was very close minded. I was also nervous, as a mother of 4 children who go nearly everywhere with me, I was afraid that the older 3 were going to be bored and have a hard time while I needed to devote my immediate attention to the baby and the Dr. From the moment we walked in and met Dr. Joe and his wife Carrie, who works in the office with him, we were very comfortable. They were both great with all the children and made them feel very at home.
The first thing Dr. Joe did was a reading of Gino's spine, and he showed me how Gino's spine was not aligned properly, he explained to me how your nerve endings are in your spine, and if your spine is not aligned, then those nerve endings can be pinched or have too much pressure, causing certain functions in your body to not function properly. It made perfect sense to me! He gave Gino his first treatment that day. Dr. Joe also explained to me that there was quite a range of issues that chiropractic care could help with, like ADD, eczema, menstrual issues, anxiety and so much more.
How often was your son treated, what was involved, and what were the results?
Gino was treated 3x a week for 12 weeks. At each visit, Dr. Joe would use a tool called a activator, which reminds me of the rubber end of a door stopper attached to something similar to a nail gun. It gently "thumped" Gino's vertebrae back into place, he did several spots on Gino's head, back, stomach and even fingers at each visit. Then Dr. Joe used a massager of sorts to help massage the nerve endings to their proper place. Initially, I thought it would be painful for the baby, but I was completely wrong. Giovanni was very relaxed and even seemed to enjoy it. In fact, on more than one occasion when Dr. Joe was through, Gino would "yell" at him and start to fuss like he did not want him to stop. Dr. Joe also used accupressure on more than one occasion to clear up Gino's sinuses, the results were almost immediate. Along w/ the reflux, Gino suffered from chronic constipation, and the treatments worked great for that also.
Dr. Joe was different than our pediatrician. Our peditrician treated the immediate problem, only what was wrong each paticular time we went, but Dr. Joe was concerned about Giovanni's overall well-being. At each visit I learned something new, wether it was about what he should be eating, pressure points on his hands and feet to help with the relflux, how the reflux was inhibiting his energy level - all kinds of things, things that I did not realize had a correlation.
After the first visit, Gino seemed "happier", we were hopeful. After about 2 weeks (6 visits) Gino went from spitting up about 2-3 cups of fluid a day (from a 5 month old baby) to about half that. After about 8 weeks, he was down to 1-2 tablespoons a day! Not only that, his sinuses had cleared up, he had more energy, he was so much happier (where before he cried almost 3/4 of the day), and his bowel movements became regular. He was so much more comfortable overall, and that greatly improved his mood! He was finally a happy baby!
Do other members of your family also receive chiropractic care?
Unfortunately, none of the other members of my family have had the opportunity to benefit from chiropractic care. We've gone through 3 moves this year and bought our first house, so we've been a bit busy. That being said, we do hope to return to Dr. Joe early next year to have my 7 year old son treated for his depression and anxiety.
And finally ... What's your full name and the suburb/city in which your family lives?
S. M. - Garland, Tx
Thanks so much. So glad to hear you got the health care you needed!
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Now, I felt the need to post all that to really describe our experience. There are 4 names at the end of the article - we saw Dr Joe at Dennis Family Wellness (in Plano) who is Wonderful! I *know* Dr. Jayne Digby-New, we have never met, but we have emailed back and forth as we were both in the same homeschool group and had quite a long conversation about chiropractic care. Dr. Jayne works out of her home (or at least at the time I spoke with her she did). She is also in Plano.
Also - I wanted to add that you may need to consider that there is a food allergy. An ear infection that lasts for 6 months is typically allergy related. You could do a elimination diet for milk and other foods in the Top 8 most common allergens. Also, most infant antibiotics contain milk and soy - so if there is an allergy - then the antibiotics may be making it worse. Plus, if she has been taking antibiotics for 6 months, then they are destroying the "good bacteria" in her digestive system which will leave her more susceptible to viral infections. Has your doctor considered Rosephin (sp) shots? (Unless of course if she has a penicillin allergy in which case she can't have those).
I am not anti-tubes, but despite what a previous poster mentioned - there is NO guarantee that your daughter will not continue to get ear infections w/ them. 2 of our boys had tubes, the first had 2 or 3 ear infections after he got them (he got them b/c he had 13 ear infections in 10 months). When our 2cnd son got tubes (one ear infection that lasted 6 weeks and his ear drum ruptured) - we figured it just "ran in the family" (and he had 2 ear infections after he got tubes) --- shortly after we had our 3rd son (4th child) we realized we were dealing with a milk allergy. We did not know when we took Gino to the chiro that it wasn't reflux, but a milk allergy instead. That being said, Dr. Joe nearly cured him of his milk allergy. I have no doubts that if we had kept going, Dr. Joe would have made the allergy disappear all together, but he did make the allergy less sensitive.
I just wanted to throw our experience out there and point out that a "crack and pull" chiropractor is not for children, but the right chiropractic care can absolutely work for children, and that there may very well be an underlying cause to your daughter's ear infection(s).
Oh - and I also wanted to add, one reason our son's spine wasn't aligned properly (and the need for chiropractic adjustment) was that he sat in the birth canal for a very, very long time (I labored for about 24 hours with him) - in our opinion, that was part of the reason he had so many food allergies!
I hope her ear infection goes away soon and ya'll find what you're looking for!
--S.